Relatively Scottish offers family history research covering anywhere in Scotland. However I specialize in Dumfries & Galloway, the Scottish Borders and Edinburgh and the Lothians. (The picture above is of the Eildon Hills near Melrose, given the name of Trimontium by the Romans who built a fort nearby).
Perhaps I can help you knock down that brick wall ? Are you having difficulty with any Scottish family history research ? Perhaps you’ve reached an impasse. See if my local knowledge can help. Happy to help with small or large problems (minimum of 2 hours research) with Scotlandspeople or any other archives. Let me know your problem via the Contact Me page.
Featured Photo: Irongray Kirk : Rosser1954, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Dumfriesshire Resources
| NEW for May 2024 : A Century of Rentals covering the period 1714-1814 for the parishes of Langholm, Westerkirk, Eskdalemuir and Ewes Available Here |
I have spent many years researching family history in Dumfriesshire and Liddesdale in particular. I can therefore offer some unique resources that you won’t find elsewhere . These complement conventional sources like OPRs and Monumental Inscriptions, and can often get you to the next level without the need to carry out research in Scotland. Here is what’s included:
- Rentals from the Buccleuch Estates 1630-1815
- Indexes of Irregular Marriages from Kirk Session Records
- Indexes of Illegitimate Births from Kirk Session Records
- Hearth Tax Records 1690-1692
- Militia Lists from 1802
These records are organised on a parish basis –Take a Look Here. These are really useful when you’re chasing ancestors before 1840. There are currently around 50 different documents available and it is constantly being added to. They are all transcriptions of original sources carried out carefully by Relatively Scottish. Many of these are available free of charge and there is a small charge for others. I’m also keen to hear about any documents you would like me to add to this collection. If you don’t see what you need then please get in touch – there are many more documents available in the archives which I haven’t transcribed and published.
Roxburghshire Resources
| NEW for March 2024 : Teviotdalehead Rental for 1814-1815 – includes all Buccleuch properties in parishes of Hawick, Cavers, Roberton, Wilton, Minto Available Here |
- Castleton Parish (Liddesdale)
- Cavers Parish
- Eckford/Sprouston Parishes
- Hawick Parish
- Roberton Parish
- Wilton Parish
Useful Archives
Relatively Scottish exists to provide research on family history in Scottish archives for customers anywhere in the world. Therefore I take a flexible approach and can provide specific research to order in any supported archive. Alternatively I can focus on one or more branches of a family tree for you.
I live in Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders and can carry out research at many of the Scottish archives covering south and central Scotland. This includes the major national archives in Edinburgh like the National Records of Scotland and Scotlandspeople. There are also excellent regional archives such as the Heritage Hub in Hawick in the Scottish Borders. Dumfries and Galloway Archives are in the Ewart Library in Dumfries. I have also been able to access the Buccleuch private archives held at Drumlanrig Castle.
My own family tree has primary branches in Dumfriesshire, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Renfrewshire and Banffshire. As a direct descendant from the infamous border reivers I have a keen interest in reiver genealogy. – you’ll find more information about this on the Reiver Genealogy pages.
Talks and presentations
From time to time I participate in international online conferences and Family History Society events. Details of previous talks that Relatively Scottish has done for Scottish Indexes Virtual Conferences can be found here.
